As background to the present invention, current decontamination systems for food articles having a porous outer surface (e.g., eggs, lobsters, etc.) require placing the articles within a water bath at an elevated temperature and then drying the articles to remove pathogens, such as salmonella. (The terms “decontamination” and “decontaminate” will be used hereinafter to refer to processes, such as disinfection, deactivation, sanitation, sterilization, etc., that are designed to kill microorganisms or pathogens.) If the pathogens remain on the surface of the article for an extended period of time (approximately two (2) hours) the pathogen may migrate through the porous outer surface of the article, thereby making the article a possible hazard for human consumption.
In addition to the foregoing, the temperature of the water bath must be carefully controlled to reduce the risk of partially cooking the food articles. A partially cooked food article would be undesirable to a consumer and may pose a health risk to the consumer. In addition, water baths for pasteurization are prone to potential contamination build-up as eggs are continuously processed.
The present invention provides a method and a system for decontaminating food articles having a porous outer surface. The present invention conveys the food articles through a decontamination chamber wherein the food articles are exposed to a sterilant vapor at a concentration sufficient to decontaminate the food articles and for a duration of time that is short enough so as to avoid undesirable side effects to the food articles.